Optimization of phenol adsorption onto biochar from oil palm empty fruit bunch (EFB)

Abstract

Malaysia, as one of the leading palm oil producers in the world faces problems in disposal of oil palm empty fruit bunch (EFB), which can be converted into various value-added products, including adsorbents. This study investigated the adsorption of phenol from its solution using biochar produced from EFB through carbonization. Response Surface Methodology (RSM) with Box-Behnken design was used to investigate the effects of three parameters (temperature, time and heating rate) during carbonization on phenol removal by the biochar produced. This was followed by process optimization based on statistical analysis. The results indicated that the optimized carbonization conditions were; 500 °C for temperature, 10 °C/min of heating rate and 80 min for reaction time, which led to 7.57% of phenol removal. SEM revealed coarse and uneven surface of the biochar surface, with small degree of pore development. Comparison between FTIR spectrum of EFB and biochar revealed the loss of water and hydroxyl compounds from EFB during carbonization. The lack of oxygenated groups (especially carbonyl groups) on the adsorbent surface as well as limited number of pores were the possible reasons leading to low phenol adsorption by biochar, therefore conversion of the biochar to activated carbon was necessary for higher adsorption performance.

An Overview and Evaluation of Highly Porous Adsorbent Materials for Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons and Phenols Removal from Wastewater

“…Thus, high removal of PAHs (pyrene and benzo[a]pyrene) has been reported by Qiao et al (2018) using biomass derived biochar generated from Enteromorpha prolifera at 200 • C. The Langmuir monolayer maximum adsorption capacities were estimated to be 187.27 µg/g and 80.00 µg/g, for the pyrene and benzo[a]pyrene, respectively [82]. Recently, Arshad et al (2019) reported on response surface method (RSM) optimizations of phenol adsorption onto oil-palm bunch derived biochar [80]. Lee et al (2019) reported on the effective removal of phenol using biochar generated from food waste Factors that affect the adsorption of PAHs and phenols onto biochar include pore size and volume of the adsorbent as well as the concentration of the pollutants [20].…”

“…It has been estimated that, the world production of dry biomass is about 220 billion tons annually [75], thus pyrolysis treatment to energy and biochar is interesting option [76,77]. Agricultural waste materials such as rice husk [78], wheat straw [79], and palm kernel seeds [80] have been reportedly used for PAHs and phenol adsorption in water.…”

Transformation of Oil Palm Biomass into Value-Added Components

“…Although OPB are wastes, they contain a high amount of nutritional or bioactive components, which may exert health benefits to humans, thus the approaches of waste management are aimed to reduce and recycle the by-products to recover the valuable components in OPB [9]. The extractives and ash that present in minute amounts in OPB can potentially be used as reactive dyes [10], low-cost activated carbon or adsorbent for water treatment [11] and as a potential ingredient in concrete manufacturing due to its good mechanical strength [12], but OPB was reported to have limited usage. POME was mainly used as a fuel supply to produce biogas for power engine machines, while fruit shell and fibre are burnt to produce heat and electricity [13].…”